Hi! Kirk with what I expect to be my last post for now on the topic of Daiz, the local company that produces plant-based meat-substitute products.
Several people expressed interest in purchasing their products. I also got a question about whether or not what they make is vegan. So, I decided to give them a call to find out. What I learned is that, at the moment, our only way to taste a product made by this company (at least here in Kumamoto) is to visit a FRESHNESS BURGER fast-food joint and order a soy patty burger (see photo). The following page shows the location of the two shops in Kumamoto:
https://search.freshnessburger.co.jp/fb/spot/list?address=43&search=address
In regard to whether or not their products are vegan, I was told on the phone that what they make is vegan but that the businesses that actually sell their products may mix them with meat or other animal products. So, you have to check with FRESHNESS BURGER as to whether or not their soy sandwiches are vegan.
At the moment, they aren’t selling to local supermarkets and they don’t sell directly to the public from their company offices. Hopefully, demand for their products will grow in the future and that will lead to wider availability.
The interest in the topic of vegan foods may not be huge as a percentage of the readers of this page but I think that those who are interested are strongly interested. And, Japan is general not super sensitive to the needs of vegans and vegetarians in my experience so I think there is a need for more information about how to get by in Kumamoto without eating meat.
So, if those of you who are interested in this topic would comment on this post with your vegan/vegetarian tips about Kumamoto, I would appreciate it. I may not be able to collate all of the information but people searching this page with terms like “vegan” and “vegetarian” will be able to find it.